Warsaw, Poland’s striking capital, remains an engaging choice for a European city break as new, modern city skyscrapers rise amongst the former baroque palaces of its distant past and the post-modern brutalist blocks of its modern history. A city that has developed across the disparate eras of post-WWII Europe, Warsaw rewards the further you scratch beneath the surface.
Start from the baroque market square and follow the Old Town – reconstructed after extensive damage during WWII – as it unfurls across the city, before heading to Srodmiescie in the south for café-filled streets, admire the Stalinist-inspired Palace of Culture tower and enjoy the ‘edgy’ Praga district across the Vistula River for some of Europe’s trendiest bars.
What you’ll love most about Warsaw
- The city’s Old Town, with its alleys and passageways, plaza and churches, is a UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Follow a glorious route on foot that takes in the Royal Castle, Wilanow Palace and Lazienki Palace and Park
- The Old Town Market Place is surrounded by tall, narrow Renaissance and Baroque merchants’ houses of many colours. A beautiful setting for the many restaurants that line the perimeter of the square